Desktop PDF icon thumbnails/preview turn black on Win 11 Pro with Acrobat Pro 64-bit

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
December 22, 2023
3 replies
6663 views

Tried clearing the thumbnail cache, turning "thumbnails instead of icons" off/on (both in Acrobat Preferences and Windows Explorer folder options), and reinstalling the Acrobat. Didn't work.

The only case they show is when I change my desktop icon size to Large. The issue here is they have a white background around the PDF preview (which I don't think was the case before), and - I want my icons to be back to Medium size.

There is no issue with the preview on icons or any size in folders, only on Desktop.

Any help or fix that doesn't include hillbilly patches, third-party debuggers, or add-ons?

Correct answer Edward348902426vjt

The fix is detailed on page 2 by user littleh80198665

https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/pdf-icons-on-desktop-turn-into-black-squares/td-p/9269976/page/2

Delete the thumbnail cache using disk cleanup
Right click on desktop and select refresh

Thanks littleh80198665!

A

Alan F 2.0

Participant

i have the real fix and the real cause of the problem.

i'm amazed no one else has figured this out.

you need to set the scale for all of your monitors (includig your laptop screen) to the same scale.

that's it.

it's just that simple.

E

Edward348902426vjtCorrect answer

Participating Frequently

The fix is detailed on page 2 by user littleh80198665

https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/pdf-icons-on-desktop-turn-into-black-squares/td-p/9269976/page/2

Delete the thumbnail cache using disk cleanup
Right click on desktop and select refresh

Thanks littleh80198665!

E

Edward348902426vjt

Participating Frequently

Unfortunately I spoke too soon - it looks like the fix is not long lasting - the icons have flipped back to a black background

E

Edward348902426vjt

Participating Frequently

What happens when you repeat your solution?

It works for a while, but when the desktop next refreshes the icons turn
black again.

Looking through multiple articles on this subject it appears as if there
are multiple causes for this to happen - from having custom scaling being
set (which I do), to having powertoys etc (which I do) - I'm sure there are
more reasons out there that I come under.

>From looking at these different articles it's been an issue since 2017 and
hasn't been fixed - so looks like an issue that users will have to live
with as it doesn't seem to be on the list of priority items that Adobe will
look at and resolve.